I want to start a discussion of Māori
education from first principles, in order to set a solid
foundation for a shared understanding.

I have to say that
sometimes debate on topics like the Māori Education
Strategy can seem fruitless, when we are grafting one
culture’s ideas onto different cultural rootstocks. The
hybrid is sterile.

For Māori, the education agenda is a
development agenda. And Māori development is about whānau,
hapū and iwi reclaiming rangatiratanga, through development
of human talents, our language and culture and our
relationships with the natural world as the foundations of
our identity as tangata whenua.

So Māori education is
inter-twined with whānau development, and with cultural and
economic development and environmental management, for the
benefit of future generations as well as for individual
students.

One very clear example of this is the
development of a comprehensive kaupapa Māori education
system from kōhanga reo through kura kaupapa Māori and
wharekura to wānanga.

The impetus for kōhanga reo was
the impending loss of Māori language. Kura kaupapa Māori
were set up when whānau saw that all the effort they put
into kōhanga was lost when children started in mainstream
schools, and in that cultural environment, the children
simply stopped speaking Māori. Wharekura followed as a
Māori-speaking cohort progressed through the education
system.

Wānanga developed separately, with Te Wānanga o
Raukawa planned in 1981 as a central pillar of Ngāti
Raukawa’s comprehensive tribal development programme
‘Whakatipuranga Ruamano’ – Generation 2000, which was
launched in 1975. Te Wānanga o Aotearoa emerged from the
Māori ACCESS schemes of the mid 1980s.

The practical,
intellectual, financial and emotional burden was carried by
whānau who were working together as tight teams, in control
of their own projects. So education became a focus of
whānau development, with individual whānau members gaining
skills and experience in the front line of the battle to
maintain their Māori identity and culture for future
generations.

The wānanga, by providing access to
education in Māori cultural environments, reopened the
whole field of tertiary study to Māori adults who would
never have considered enrolling in polytechs or
universities. And in addition to developing their own
knowledge and skills, many of those adults enrolled to
provide role models for their children and grandchildren,
and to normalise tertiary study in their families.

In
doing this, the wananga reversed in part the effects of
generations of compulsory education that was delivered in a
way that alienated many Maori from school and disqualified
them from higher education.

So, from both ends of the
education cycle, at pre-school and tertiary levels, kaupapa
Maori education has bridged a gap and closed a loop,
motivating and supporting Maori students and their whanau to
prepare themselves for tertiary study.

Maori
Education Strategy

The huge difference between
the current Maori education strategy 'Ka Hikitia' and
previous efforts to promote Maori achievement in education
lies, I believe, in the definition of the goal: Māori
achieving educational success as
Maori.

Implicit in that goal is a recognition
that Maori educational under-achievement is a failure of the
education system, not of the individual students. That
recognition opens up the way for persistent problems in
Maori education to be tackled at their roots.

Success for
Māori in education is not just about passing exams. It is
about being prepared to participate in Maori cultural
environments; with confidence in one's identity; with
education at school reinforced by experience at home; with
the student understanding their place in the whānau and the
purpose of their study. If a student recognises that their
education is part of a whānau plan, then the whānau can
provide critical motivation and support. They can also help
the school to tailor education to meet the needs of the
whanau. Schools and whanau must work together to enable
educational success for Maori as Maori.

When the school
system is offering Maori students ‘educational
achievementas Māori’, then
tertiary institutions will see Maori students arriving at
their doors ready and enthusiastic to pursue higher
study.

Tertiary Education
Strategy.

I believe the Tertiary Education
strategy released here yesterday falls short in some
respects. Its vision, 'to raise the skills and knowledge of
the current and future workforce to meet the demands of
society', focuses on students as potential workers or
economic units to meetthe demands of
society - as defined by whom?

Maori education is
defined in the strategy in terms of participation,
completion and qualification - not in terms of contribution
to the rangatiratanga of whanau, hapu and iwi, the
maintenance and growth of Maori culture and heritage for the
benefit of future generations, the protection of natural
environments and landscapes; i.e. not in terms of
educational achievement as Maori.

The
Tertiary Education Strategy does refer to increased pastoral
and academic support for Maori students, and teaching
practices that are culturally responsive to Maori students.
It also refers to the desire 'to strengthen the delivery of
high quality te reo Māori provision'. While these are
important, the Tertiary Education Strategy's criteria for
success do not fully reflect the fact that a Maori education
agenda is a Maori development agenda.

Other
recent developments in tertiary education.

The
government recently legislated to change the structure and
size of the councils and boards governing universities and
wananga. The aim was to make the boards smaller, more
skills-based, more responsive to the needs of the job market
and more competitive. In the process the representative
character of the boards was reduced by the abolition of
reserved seats for student, staff and community
representatives, and a higher proportion of government
appointees.

I know wananga saw that their councils could
become more representative of their communities. For
universities, however, it is likely that they will respond
to their communities by becoming more competitive and
focused on performance targets set by the government, in
terms of numbers of graduates and responsiveness to industry
and the job market.

In making this announcement, the
Minister said the changes are in line with the government's
moves to set Education Performance Indicators for tertiary
institutions and Performance Linked Funding.

Unless Maori
education is seen as serving a Maori development agenda, and
the performance indicators for education are set
accordingly, then these changes will likely entrench the
persistent under-achievement of Maori students at
universities.

Incidentally, we expect the changed criteria
for the Student Loans Scheme to affect Maori students
disproportionately, in particular by cutting older students'
eligibility for loans. Māori students already carry a
disproportionate share of student debt – around 20% of the
total $12 billion.

Yesterday it also emerged that Nga Pae
o te Maramatanga, the Maori Centre for Research Excellence
hosted at Auckland University, has not been shortlisted to
receive funding past 2015. This followed a review conducted
by the Royal Society of New Zealand for the Tertiary
Education Commission.

It seems hard to understand how
Maori tertiary educational success as Maori can be enhanced
by cutting funding to the only Maori Centre for Research
Excellence. The closure of Nga Pae o te Maramatanga will be
a serious blow to Maori education at post-graduate
level.

The goal of Nga Pae has been to increase Maori
research capability. Their success in that has been
undeniable, with the number of Maori PhDs increasing almost
exponentially in recent years, across physical, biological
and social sciences. The body of research has supported
commercial opportunities, and also underpinned improvements
to the conservation and stewardship of our natural heritage,
and the revival of Maori language and culture and resilience
of Maori communities. In other words, the Maori research
agenda, like the Maori education agenda, is also a Maori
development agenda.

The decision to cut funding to Nga Pae
o te Maramatanga seems inexplicable, except as a reflection
of the fact that Maori knowledge and the contribution of
Maori to our nation is still not properly recognised or
valued. That was certainly the view of 70 Maori academics
and researchers who wrote an open letter at the end of last
year expressing concern that the defined areas and key
themes of the National Science Challenges failed to reflect
the key areas of concern for Maori communities. They called
for all aspects of the National Science Challenges to
incorporate Maori world views, tikanga and reo, the Treaty
of Waitangi, matauranga Maori, kaitiakitanga and rangahau
whai hua (a transformative focus).

There is clearly a
widespread concern that cumulative changes in legislation,
regulation and policy in Maori education and research are
not supporting Maori development to enhance the
rangatiratanga of Maori communities.

Maori
Economic Development Strategy

'He Kai Kei Aku
Ringa', the Maori economic development strategy, recognises
the need for Maori knowledge and research to add value to
Maori assets and create business opportunities. The Maori
economy is growing rapidly, and Maori control significant
holdings in land, energy, forestry, fisheries.

One of the
key themes of the Māori Economic Development Strategy is
adding value through the application of research, science
and technology.

Again, Maori economic development is one
aspect of the quest for rangatiratanga. It is not a
single-minded pursuit of profit, but investment in people
and communities, and sustainable development of their
natural and cultural heritage, for the benefit of future
generations. So understanding of Maori cultural and social
dynamics is vital if economic development is to meet the
needs of Maori communities.

Whanau
Ora

A key organising principle in our communities
is the primary role of whanau as custodians of knowledge, as
promoters of learning and drivers of transformation. In this
cultural context, education is always going to be most
effective when educators understand and value the identity,
language and culture of Maori students and their whānau.
Culturally responsive services will be characterised by the
ability of educators to listen to whānau Māori and respond
appropriately to their aspirations.

The Maori Party has
therefore strongly endorsed the Tataiako programme, which
makes teaching more effective through promoting teachers’
cultural competency – that is, the skills to recognise and
respect the diverse and unique perspectives of whānau
Māori.

The Maori Party has also consistently advocated
for institutional reinforcement of te reo Māori as a taonga
and a gift of value for New Zealand as a whole. The
language reinforces Aotearoa’s national identity in a way
which distinguishes us from other nations.

Conclusion

Unless
we bear in mind the broad purpose of Maori education, and
the tight linkages between education, research, cultural
maintenance,environmental protection,
community resilience and economic development, then
education strategies and plans are unlikely to resolve the
persistent problems of Maori under-achievement in
education.

But when education planners and decision-makers
see Maori education as one aspect of Maori development, with
the goal being to advance the rangatiratanga of whanau, hapu
and iwi Maori; and when Maori education is designed and
delivered accordingly, then we will see a transformation in
Maori achievement, for the benefit of Aotearoa as a
whole.

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